As a serious bowler, you know you can do a lot of your practicing from the comfort of your living room. The pre-shot routine, the setup, hand positions, the armswing—these are a few aspects of your game you can work on that don’t require an actual…you know, bowling lane. But, you can actually take practice-from-home to an entirely new level by simply turning on your computer.
Be it the PBA, the PWBA, or any other organization featuring top-level competition, technology makes it easy to bring bowling into your home. But when it comes to online bowling education, there is a huge difference between passively watching and actively observing.
When you watch, you need to do nothing but sit while entertainment is thrown at you; you can enjoy what’s on your screen even if you’re talking to someone else. On the other hand, observing means effort is required; you can’t focus on learning if you’re chattering away to your neighbor.
“Learning-by-watching” and “physically practicing” have a commonality: in each case, bowlers need to focus on one area of concern at a time in order to improve.
Who and what do you look for when you go online? That depends on what you’re trying to achieve. All bowlers want to improve, but some either can’t or won’t try to completely reinvent themselves. In their quest for more pinfall, what should they be observing?
Think of online learning as a three-part process. Part three is the learning and observing part. But first, decide on an overall goal: are you trying to learn something new, or are you trying to figure out how to fine-tune your existing style?
Second, find a bowler whose height and body type are similar to yours (either male or female), and whose bowling style is similar to that which you’re striving to either learn or improve upon. If you’re already a bowling fanatic, you know who these bowlers are and can search for them by name. If you’re transitioning from being a casual bowler to a serious competitor, the This article is only available to Bowling This Month subscribers. Click below to get instant access to this article and all of our other premium instructional content. Subscribe to Bowling This Month Already a Bowling This Month subscriber? Click here to log in. Image Credits: Man with tablet image (©iStock.com/nito100) is licensed for use by BTM and is the copyrighted property of its original creator. Bowling scene image is courtesy of PBA LLC.
